Method for illustrating

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a method for illustrating wherein the illustration is made on one side of a screen, the drawing ink penetrates the screen and one can view the drawing as it is being made from the other side of the screen without the artist or his drawing implements being visible, and also to a screen for drawing in this fashion. With this invention the illustration is done on a specially selected and treated fabric so that the artist&#39;&#39;s ink penetrates between the threads of the fabric by capillary action and does not feather or spread laterally of the fabric. The fabric is a non-absorbent one such as a polyester, and it is treated with a fixative at the thread intersections to prevent ink from running along the threads in a lateral direction.

I United States Patent 3,800,441 Macpherson Apr. 2, 1974 METHOD FOR ILLUSTRATING [76] Inventor: Duncan 1. Macpherson, 181 Primary Exammer Harland Skogqulst Bl h Rd., t O t cayltayivsod Toron 0 n ario ABSTRACT This invention relates to a method for illustrating [22] Flled: 1972 wherein the illustration is made on one side of a 211 Appl 27 3 screen, the drawing ink penetrates the screen and one can view the drawing as it is being made from the other side of the screen without the artist or his draw- [52] Cl 35/26 l78/DIG- HS/DIG- ing implements being visible, and also to a screen for [5 1] Int Cl (mgb igfgg drawing in this fashion. [58] Field DIG With this invention the illustration is done on a 352/8'5 87 1 1 specially selected and treated fabric so that the artists ink penetrates between the threads of the fabric by capillary action and does not feather or spread [56] References Cned E laterally of the fabric. The fabric is a non-absorbent UNITED STATES PAT NTS one such as a polyester, and it is treated with a fixative Copeman l at the thread intgrsections to prevent from running FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS along the threads in a lateral direction.

634,975 I/ 1962 13 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Canada 35/26 1 METHOD FOR ILLUSTRATING This invention relates to a method for illustrating wherein the illustration is made on one side of a screen, the drawing ink penetrates the screen and one can view the drawing as it is being made from the other side of the screen without the artist or his drawing implements being visible, and also to a screen for drawing in this fashion. The general method of illustration is old but its use has been limited. Its use has been confined to black and white drawing where the drawing instrument is a pen with a metal or felt nib. It has not been practical with the old techniques to use a brush because the brush marks and lines feathered or spread as they were applied to the screen prepared by the known methods, and the quality of the resulting drawing was unacceptable.

The ability to use a brush with the technique greatly increases its scope. One can with a brush fill in areas of a drawing in a solid colour or draw a fluctuating line, both of which are not practical with a pen. One can also make greater use of multi-colour illustration.

The illustrating screen of the prior art usually comprised a transparent sheet of glass with an overlay of a drawing paper having a porosity that permitted penetration of ink from one side to the other. Thus as the artist drew on the paper a reverse image of his drawing was visible through the glass from the opposite side of the paper. The paper acted as a screen so that neither the artist nor his pen could be seen through the glass.

As indicated above, this method of illustrating through a porous piece of paper is not suitable for use with a brush drawing technique and it is not well adapted to colour illustration. The illustrating method of this invention is well suited to brush use and full colour illustration.

A method of illustrating according to this invention comprises the steps of setting a transparent panel in an operative position, applying to the back surface of said panel a sheet of screen cloth having intersecting threads of a non-absorbent material which define passages from one face thereof to the other face thereof, adhering the threads of the cloth at their intersections with a fixative, illustrating on selective areas of said cloth with an ink to penetrate the passages between said threads of said cloth by capillary action and view ing said illustration through the front surface of said panel.

The invention will be clearly understood after reference to the following detailed specification read in conjunction with the drawings.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of equipment used in the practice of this invention, and

FIG. 2 is a view of equipment used in the practice of this invention in operative position.

In the drawings the numeral generally refers to an artists drawing stand. It has a frame 12 that is adapted to receive and support a sheet of plate glass 14. A piece of cloth 16 made from a non-absorbent yarn overlays the glass plate 14.

The illustration is made by the artist preferably with a brush 18, but possibly with a pen, on the cloth 16. The selection and treatment of the cloth prior to making the illustration are important because these things determine the manner in which the ink is transmitted through the cloth.

The cloth 16 must be selected and treated so that it will function to conduct ink applied to one side through to the other side without appreciable spreading in a lateral direction. The ink flows through the cloth by capillary action. The threads of the cloth must be of a substantially non-absorbent material so that they do not absorb ink and carry it in a lateral direction and the cloth must be treated at the intersections of the threads of the weave so that ink will not flow along a thread in a lateral direction. In this latter respect the intersections of the threads of the weave are adhered with a fixative that inhibits continuous flow along the thread in a lateral direction. Fixative is sprayed from a pressurized aerosol can 20. Additionally, of course, the cloth must be of a non-light transmitting nature so as to screen the artists hand from view from the opposite side of the apparatus.

It has been found that a creped cloth made from a polyester yarn of about denier and sprayed with a fixative, the essentials of which are maleic anhydride polymer, copolymerized with methyl vinyl ether after it has been applied to the glass sheet, will conduct ink applied to one side of the cloth to the other side by capillary action without noticeable feathering. The ink can be applied by any suitable scribing instrument. Brush has been found very satisfactory and multi-coloured inks can be used so that the resulting picture can be a colour picture.

The creped polyester yarn noted above is available under the trade name Fortrel, a trade mark of Cel- Cil Fibres Limited. Polyester yarn is, of course, one that does not absorb moisture and it is suitable for the method of this invention, which is essentially to conduct the ink through the cloth by capillary action without feathering. Other polyester yarns are known by the trade names Dacron" and Terylene" and they are also suitable.

In FIG. 2 there is illustrated a practical artists set up for using this invention. In this case the glass support surface 14 has been set into the frame 12 and the creped Fortrel fabric 16 is laid over the glass sheet 14. The surface of the fabric 16 is sprayed with a fixative from a pressurized aerosol can similar to the one 20 to fix the threads of the fabric together where they cross each other in the weave whereby to prevent ink which is to be subsequently applied from running across the fabric in a lateral direction and directing it preferentially through the spaces defined by the cross weaves by capillary action.

A fabric made from a polyester yarn of about 75 denier and creped, as sold under the trade mark Fortrel and identified as a sand weave by the manufacturer, Cel-Cil Fibres Limited, has proved satisfactory. Other fabrics, of course, having similar characteristics will work.

The artist takes a brush l8 and illustrates a picture or the like on the top face of the fabric 16. The ink penetrates through to the opposite side of the cloth fabric by capillary action and is visible from the opposite face of the fabric through the glass sheet 14.

The artists hand and brush 18 are not visible from the opposite side of the fabric 16 because they are screened from view by the creped fabric 16.

Provision can be made for viewing the picture as it is being made from the underside of the illustrating surface directly, but an important use of the invention will be to record the making of the picture from the underside of the board 16 by means of a movie camera. Lighting in this respect will consist of a pair of spotlights 22 and 24 directed from each side onto the underside of the drawing board 12 and a movie camera 26 focused to record the making of the picture from the underside of the drawing board. Usually the artist will draw in his normal fashion and a reversal of the image is photographed. By known photographic techniques the image can be reversed again so that when viewed on reproduction it appears as the artist drew it from the artists side of the illustrating board. In the case of live television productions, this reversal can be done instantly by well known electronic methods.

While the method of this invention does bear superficial resemblance to methods previously practised, it does involve a basically different technique for transmitting the ink through the drawing surface. The essence of this invention is the conducting of the ink through the cloth by capillary action and restraining the feathering of the ink laterally of the drawing surface. The restraint of the ink flow has been achieved by using a non-absorbent yarn and by adhering the intersections of the threads of the cloth with a fixative to prevent conduction of the ink along the threads of the cloth fabric. With this invention the applications are very much greatly increased over the prior art because it permits the use of inks of many colours, the use of brush application techniques without the previously objectionable feathering of the drawn lines.

The fixative for adhering the intersections of the threads of the cloth to prevent feathering in a lateral direction by flow of the ink along the threads has been successfully accomplished with an aerosol pressurized spray form, the essentials of which are maleic anhydride polymers copolymerized with methyl vinyl ether or with methylene. The former is available from General Analine and Film Corporation under the trade mark Gantrez AN; the latter is available from The Monsanto Company under the trade mark EMA". The selection of ink is not critical, but artists drawing inks sold under the trade mark Pelican have worked well. The basic purpose of the fixative is, as indicated, to prevent the lateral spread of the ink at the intersections of the threads of the cloth, and fixatives other than those indicated will serve the purpose. The fixative applied to the cloth also serves to lightly adhere the cloth to the glass surface 14 in use.

What I claim is:

1. A method of illustrating comprising the steps of setting a transparent panel in an operative position, applying to the back surface of said panel a sheet of cloth having intersecting threads of a non-absorbent material which define ink passages from one face thereof to the other face thereof, adhering the intersections of the threads of said cloth with a fixative, passing an ink by capillary action from the surface of said cloth that is exposed to the surface of said cloth that lies against said panel at selected areas of the cloth to form an illustration on the surface of said cloth that lies against said panel, said illustration being viewable from the front surface of said panel.

2. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 1, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and meth- 5. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 1, in which said cloth is creped.

6. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 5, in which said cloth is a creped polyester.

7. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 5, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene.

8. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 5, in which said illustrating is done by means of a brush.

9. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 5, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene and in which said illustrating is done with a brush.

10. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 1, in which said cloth is a creped polyester.

11. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 10, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene.

12. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 10, in which said illustrating is done by means of a brush.

13. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 10, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene and in which said illustrating is done with a brush. 

1. A method of illustrating comprising the steps of setting a transparent panel in an operative position, applying to the back surface of said panel a sheet of cloth having intersecting threads of a non-absorbent material which define ink passages from one face thereof to the other face thereof, adhering the intersections of the threads of said cloth with a fixative, passing an ink by capillary action from the surface of said cloth that is exposed to the surface of said cloth that lies against said panel at selected areas of the cloth to form an illustration on the surface of said cloth that lies against said panel, said illustration being viewable from the front surface of said panel.
 2. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 1, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene.
 3. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 1, in which said illustrating is done by means of a brush.
 4. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 1, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene and in which said illustrating is done with a brush.
 5. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 1, in which said cloth is creped.
 6. A method of illustrating as claimed in Claim 5, in which said cloth is a creped polyester.
 7. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 5, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene.
 8. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 5, in which said illustrating is done by means of a brush.
 9. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 5, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene and in which said illustrating is done with a brush.
 10. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 1, in which said cloth is a creped polyester.
 11. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 10, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene.
 12. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 10, in which said illustrating is done by means of a brush.
 13. A method of illustrating as claimed in claim 10, in which said cloth is adhered to said panel with a fixative of maleic anhydride polymer copolymerized with one of the group consisting of methyl vinyl ether and methylene and in which said illustrating is done with a brush. 